


Parallax and the Court of Owls

by Finale



Series: Parallax and the Court of Owls [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Green Lantern (Comics), Green Lantern - All Media Types
Genre: And evil boyfriends instead of heroes, Batman took over the Court of Owls, In which its less like possession and more like symbosis, M/M, So Talons instead of Robins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-22 15:18:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7444111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finale/pseuds/Finale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hal Jordan stepped out of the Central Power Battery and found a new ally and new power. Bruce Wayne found an ancient conspiracy and gained control of a city. Two monsters found each other, and now what will the world do? For that matter, what will they do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Gotham

“What have I done to draw the attention of the infamous Batman?” Hal asks calmly, unphased by the sharp blade pressed against his throat. “I wasn’t aware walking through Gotham was illegal.”

“And I wasn’t aware there was anything in Gotham to interest you Parallax,” Batman growls. “What are you doing in my city?”

“I was curious about the Most Frightening City in America,” Hal says, gently pushing Batman’s arm away; no need to break the man. “I must say, I’m not too impressed by what I see. Nothing very frightening here,” Hal adds, twisting his neck just enough to catch Batman’s eye. “There are certainly impressive sights, but I must say your city’s reputation is a bit overblown. Then again, for both owls and bats, having everyone running scared means they leave you to roost alone.”

“What do you want?” Batman repeats.

“What do I want Bruce?” Hal asks, watching blue eyes go wide behind that cowl.

“I want a partnership. I think you and your Court would make for good friends.”


	2. Kindness Given

“So these are the infamous Talons,” Hal says, fascinated by the young men and women standing behind their ‘Father’. “You’re a bit short though, aren’t you?” he gently teases the youngest.

Hal bites back a snort when the kid hisses at him like an offended cat, almost seem to puff up in irritation. That must make him Damian Wayne (okay, Hal could guess just on the age, but still) who every description he’s seen compares the kid to a cat. All of the older sons and daughters to birds, but the youngest to a cranky kitten. It was in the utmost affection, but still…

“Ttt, I may be short but I can still kill you,” Damian threatens.

“Kid, you’re not even 5’ and I outweigh you by more that a hundred fifty pounds,” Hal says, snorting this time. “On top of that, I’m capable of creating anything that comes to mind, you wouldn’t even come close to killing me.” He says it like a fact, the complete confidence of a man aware of his own power.

“Enough,” Bruce says warningly, cutting off Damian’s next snipe. “You claim to want to work with us. Taunting one of my children isn’t a good way to go about that.”

Honestly, I only want to work with you, and by work with you I mean fuck you, Hal muses, deciding discretion is the better part of valor. 

“So why did you call me here anyway?” Hal asks, tilting his head slightly. “I don’t think we’ve known each other long enough for me to meet the kids. Shouldn’t that wait until at least the third date?”

Hal has to bite back another smirk at Damian’s new, infuriated hiss. Okay, even if nothing else, messing with this kid is hilarious (and he doesn’t care that he’s a grown ass man with the power of a primordial fear entity, messing with Damian Wayne screams hours of fun).

The look of sheer frustration on Bruce’s face makes it even better.

******************

“Damian, where did you get a kitten?” Bruce asks, spying the small, gray animal purring in his youngest son’s arms. He didn’t think the six year old had time to pick up any strays earlier.

“Parallax stopped by Father,” Damian says instead. The tiny kitten cuddles closer to Damian. “He dropped off some information you wanted and said something about you two having a meeting later today. I think you should go to your meeting, he made it sound important.”

Bruce bites back the impulse to point out that Damian doesn’t like Parallax, has said before that he won’t pass on messages for the former hero but right now is doing so. He studies the gray kitten suspiciously even as Damian gives it a fond kiss to the head and hops out of Bruce’s chair. 

“I’m going to see if Alfred will give me cream for Chesed,” Damian informs him. “Your meeting is in three hours.”

******************

“You know, I like to think I’m a man of simple wants,” Hal drawls, sprawling in Bruce’s chair and drawing the Gotham billionaire’s eyes to lean, long legs. “I just want an alliance with you, the man who makes the Justice League tremble. I also want to see if you can make me tremble in a more fun manner, but that can wait till the kids are asleep,” Hal adds, smirk lazy and leering slightly. “So seriously Bruce, why am I here? You told me you wanted me to be here, I asked Damian to remind you of this meeting, so what’s going on?”

Because I do want to see you trembling beneath me, naked and hands clenching the silk of sheets, legs wrapped tight around my waist. I want you as belong to me, with marks around your neck, on your hips, back and ass showing that you’re mine. I’ve wanted that for years now and…

“Why did you give Damian a kitten?” Bruce asks instead, biting back he really wants from Hal.

“I thought it would work as a means of getting the kid to a) Stop trying to murder me and b) get him to actually pass on the message to remind you of this meeting,” Hal says. “Seriously though, why the meeting? It can’t be about the kitten since I just gave that to the kid. So what’s going on?”

“I’ve found some information you may find interesting on Cyborg Superman.”

“Oh really?” Parallax asks, brown eyes going cold. “I’m listening.”


	3. Kidnapping and Crushes

“Parallax, I need you in Gotham now,” Bruce demands into his phone, staring incredulously at his oldest.

The oldest of his Talons refuses to look ashamed and Bruce is fairly certain the snickering he’s hearing is coming from the younger Talons. By the blonde strands he spies, at the very least Stephanie and Cassandra are watching, with Tim most likely joining them. Jason, he knows, has some errands to run out in the city. Bruce just hopes Jason actually is running errands instead of stalking the Last Green Lantern. That crush is…problematic to say the least.

At least Hal thought it was hilarious instead of seeing it as a possible threat.

“Sure, but why? You said you didn’t need me for anything, anytime soon,” says the Coast City native. “It’ll take me about ten minutes. I’m over in Sector 2222 hunting down a rumor on Cyborg Superman.”

“Because my children are idiots,” Bruce says, forced calm infecting his tone. “And I suspect the Flash has enough fond memories of you still to not attack when you return his sidekick to him.”

“…Why do you have Wally?” Hal asks, voice suddenly much sharper.

“As I already said, my children are idiots. In particular, they are idiots who don’t deal with their crushes properly,” sighs Bruce. “Wallace West is perfectly fine for the record, if incredibly confused.”

“Is Jason stalking Kyle again and did Wally get kidnapped trying to prevent said stalking?” Hal asks, amusement starting to flood his voice. “No, he wouldn’t be incredibly confused if that was the case…does one of the Talons have a crush on him?”

“Evidentially,” Bruce says, continuing to give Dick a dark look.

“Huh. So Dick really does have a thing for gingers,” Hal muses. “Seeing as he’s flirted with Oracle, Starfire, and Speedy already. Why’d he kidnap Wally though?”

“Because, to reiterate, my children can be idiots. Stephanie, Cassandra, stop laughing and go back to doing your training routines,” Bruce snaps, glaring at the doorway the two are hiding near. The sound of their snickering had been rising.

“Kidnapping is not a good way to display your affection toward people,” Hal agrees, suddenly appearing behind Bruce (and someday he’s going to figure out how the man does that).

“No, it’s not,” Bruce says, doing his best not admire the curve of Hal’s neck and wonder what it would look like covered in hickies. “Can you please return Kid Flash to his city? And retrieve Jason if he’s following Rayner like a lost puppy again?” Bruce adds, knowing it’s a strong possibility.

“Sure,” says Hal, and Bruce stiffens at the unexpected brush of lips against his cheek and he watches, mouth agape as Hal walks away, somehow instinctively knowing where Wally is.

“So…how much trouble am I in?” Dick asks slowly.

“Immense,” growls Bruce, trying his best to not be distracted by the slight kiss. It meant nothing. Hal flirts and teases as easily and naturally as breathing. It means nothing.

Right?

**********

“Can’t help but think this isn’t the smartest idea kiddo,” Hal says, spotting Jason’s hiding space with ease.

Grumpy teal eyes glare down at him and Hal does his best to ignore Kyle fighting Major Force above him. The universe’s only Green Lantern is doing fine, Hal doesn’t think he needs to interfere. He can feel the Parallax entity’s attention drawn to Kyle in the same strangely intense fashion that’s normal to it. He still isn’t certain why it’s so focused on trolling Kyle, but perfectly content with humiliating Guy and ignoring John.

“Get down,” Hal orders, catching the slight tensing of muscles as Jason when in for a retreat. “You know better than to stalk Green Lantern. Hell, Jason, he’s way too old for you.”

“I’m 17,” grumbles the Talon.

“Yeah, and he’s 23, that’s a pretty big difference Jason,” Hal says with a sigh. “Come on, Batman wants you home anyway. Dick decided it was a good idea to kidnap one of the Flashes and we’re going to need to figure out to deal with the response from the capes.”

“It’s kinda weird how you talk about them,” Jason says, hopping down to Hal’s level. “Like, you keep it really impersonal, but I know you’ve known them for years.”

“I used to consider some of them very close friends. And you should remember Jason, I slaughtered hundreds that I once called allies and snapped the neck of a man I considered my best friend, teacher, and lover. Sometimes keeping things impersonal keeps me sane,” Hal says with a dark smile.

“You’re pretty damn personal with B,” Jason points out, unconcerned at the dark smile on Hal’s face; he knows Parallax likes him, he isn’t worried.

“Yeah, well, I also want B, so that’s different,” Hal says with a chuckle, running a fond hand through Jason’s spikey hair. He tries to ignore the scarring he can feel underneath his hand.

“For the record, most of us are rooting for you. Hell, Damian is rooting for you, but I think that’s cause you’ve successfully bribed him with kittens,” Jason says as Hal shifts reality around them.

“To be fair, I was doing that more so he’d stop attempting to murder me,” Hal says, spying Dick sulking on top of the Cave’s main computer, Oracle sitting at it and giving Dick an unimpressed look. “Though that is an excellent bonus.”

“Why’s Dickie on top of the computer?” Jason asks, tilting his head to the side slightly.

“Because he’s an idiot,” Oracle says, adjusting her glasses.

“Fair,” Jason says.

Hal strides away, looking for Bruce. They’ve been dancing around their attraction for months. He’s going to deal with it properly, not like a Talon with a crush and a talent for kidnapping and/or stalking.


	4. Final Night

Hal sighs as Bruce presses a kiss against his shoulder. He feels strong arms wrap around his bare waist, a cool back press against his own. It had taken them almost a year and a half to reach this point. A year and a half of flirting, a year of dancing around what they both wanted so badly, and now they’re going to lose it. Lose it, but the world would live. Bruce and the kids would live.

“Are you sure?” Bruce asks, stroking Hal’s stomach. “There has to be…” he trails off, knowing his words are foolish. If there were a different way, it would have been found already.

“You know there isn’t Bruce,” Hal says, turning in Bruce’s arms so he could face him, their naked legs still tangled together, and Hal’s right hand stroking Bruce’s cheek.

Bruce can faintly feel the warmth of the ring’s power against his face, and knows he’s never going to feel that again. Never going to hold Hal in his arms again. Never see the gold-brown glow of Hal’s eyes again. The Sun is gone, and Hal is going to do what he can to save it.

Even if saving it means he dies.

“I love you Bruce, and you know I have to do this. Luthor’s proposal…it’ll kill millions. Any coastal city will be destroyed. Who knows what it will actually do to continents. But I can rekindle the Sun. I can make it so at least its light doesn’t go out,” Hal says, kissing Bruce softly. “At least we got a chance to say goodbye. At least we got…”

At least we got the chance to be together.

*************  
_Six Months Ago…_

_Bruce feels crowed, pressed against the wall the way he is. Even though Parallax is shorter than he is, the presence of the man feels massive. Parallax had just dropped Wally off in Keystone City, barely avoiding the appearance of his former best friend, Barry Allen. That had been less then an hour ago, and the man hadn’t left the manor, just sat in the cave and appeared to be thinking._

_And now he has Bruce pressed against the wall._

_“I could stab you right now,” he says, watching Hal bite down on his bottom lip, all but drowning in brown eyes. “I should stab you.”_

_“If you were going to you’d already have done it,” Hal chuckles, cupping the side of his face. The ring on Hal’s hand feels strangely warm, as if power is constantly thrumming through it._

_“Oh really?” Bruce drawls, but there’s no threat behind his words. A part of him had known this was coming, he thinks, his own hand slipping behind Hal’s head, gripping where brown hair turns to gray. “You brush aside my threats so easily,” he murmurs, finally kissing Hal._

_“You know you love it,” Hal pants, once they’ve broken the kiss, his lips swollen and his eyes almost unfocused. “You know you’d never stab me.” He smirks. “Or at least, not stab me like that.”_

_“You are incredibly crude,” Bruce says even as he spins them so he has Hal pressed against the wall._

_“Mmm, you know you love that too,” Hal groans as Bruce kisses him again, hands clutching the front of Bruce’s shirt. “Fuck…”_

_“That is the idea,” Bruce murmurs against his mouth. “And I’d suggest doing whatever that teleportation trick you have to my bed, because I don’t think you want to be fucked against the wall of the cave without lube.”_

_“Lube and a bed is good by me,” Hal pants as Bruce starts nipping and pressing kisses against his neck. “They are both very good by me,” he says, bending reality around them so they’re both on Bruce’s bed and naked._

_“Then lets see how many times I can make you scream.”_

********  
Hal studies the Sun, knows that today is the last day, his final night, so to speak. He takes a deep breath and feels Parallax writhe in his hold, the fear entity not wanting him to do what he needs to. He can’t tell if it thinks it’ll die when he does this, or if it simply doesn’t want him to die. But if he loses his control over Parallax, he won’t be able to do what he needs to.

For the last time he twists reality. For the last time he pulls power through fear, but this time, the only fear and pain he feels are his own. The pain of leaving Bruce behind, the fear that he won’t be enough, that he’ll fail Earth the way he did Coast. Hal watches the light of the Sun grow blinding.

He watches until he can no longer see and _sleeps._


	5. Reborn

Two years. Hal had been dead for two years. 

            Bruce studies the city below, his Talons scattered throughout the city, dealing with various matters. Steph and Cass should be dismembering the last of Black Mask’s empire. Tim would be busy digging out the latest venture of the League of Assassin’s out of the city. Dick and Damian should be on their regular patrol.

            Jason is the only one not in the city. The only one who matters took elsewhere.

            “B, I’ve got news,” Jason says from behind him, proving him wrong. “News you’re going to want to hear now." 

            “What news do you have that’s so important?” Batman asks with a frown, turning to face his second Talon. “You told me that your spying on the League indicated that nothing of importance is going on, but you wanted to check in on things.” Like Rayner, who had vanished for almost three weeks.

            “Kyle Rayner is back,” Jason says, teal eyes catching Bruce’s darker blue. “He says he discovered information on Parallax, but I couldn’t hear what the information was. The only part I did hear is the one you’re going to be the most interested in.” Jason licks at his lips, as if they’d suddenly gone dry, and his fists clench together, as if he’s trying to hold himself together.

            “Hal Jordan isn’t dead.”

********* 

            _He’s back. It’s coming. It’s back. He’s coming._

            The words keep whispering in his mind, even as Kyle tries to sketch the words out of his head. Tries to force out his fears through art the way he has done so many times before. He can’t focus on his worries; he needs to concentrate on what needs to be done. If the Pallugasians were right…Fuck, they are right. It’s the only thing that makes sense. 

            Hal Jordan being possessed by a primordial fear being called Parallax makes more sense than him suddenly snapping and becoming everything he hadn’t been. Someone who would slaughter indiscriminately, destroy people he called friends and try to remake the universe in his image? From everything that Ollie, Wally, Guy and John had told him, that always just felt wrong. Now he knows that monster had never been Hal Jordan.

            Lately he’s been able to sense a disruption to the green light, a strange pulsing of dissonant power, a whispering of discordant words. Everything thing feels wrong, as if something twisted is returning. But nothing twisted is returning. Parallax is dead and gone.

            And as long as Ganthet’s plan works, Hal Jordan will be back soon.

*********

            _He feels something press against the cocoon he’s been wrapped in for so long. Sleeping, healing, becoming more than he was before. He knows it’s almost time to emerge, time to be reborn, but he still has minutes-hours-days. Soon though, soon he will be free again. Soon he will see_ them _again._

_********_

“Hal’s not dead,” Jason repeats, flexing his hands. “Somehow…whatever he did to the sun didn’t kill him. Apparently Parallax was really some primordial entity possessing Hal Jordan. It was its power that was used to restart the Sun, with Hal managing to claw his way back to the surface, after being buried deeply under the monster.”

            Bruce can hear the hint of skepticism and fear under Jason’s voice. If that was true, had Parallax really cared about him? Had Parallax every really cared about any of them? Or had they been weapons that Parallax had used and wouldn’t have had an issue with breaking? 

            “How do they think Hal would have been able to claw his way back up if some ancient being had been possessing him?” Bruce says, allowing Jason to hear his own skepticism. “What, do they believe that after two years it had suddenly loosened its hold? Or that somehow, Hal Jordan had dug his way through Parallax because he wanted to save the world?”

            “Yep,” Jason pops his lips, a look of relief crossing his face, as if Bruce’s own skepticism firmed up his own thoughts. “They think that somehow Hal could hear out, and the Sun going out was enough to get him through Parallax. Because apparently murdering hundreds wasn't enough to do that.”

            “Bull. Shit.” Bruce only hopes that Jason can't see the fear he's wrong.

*********

             Kyle growls as he parries another blow from Sinestro. Of fucking course Sinestro had been behind the mess entire time. Of fucking course. That should have occurred to them all already! But somehow, with the Korugarian ‘dead’ for so long, no one had wondered what really could have woken Parallax up, and linked the yellow monster to the monster using the yellow light.

            Now they have to prevent him from getting Hal’s corpse. Kyle knows that Sinestro will destroy Hal’s body, the gleam of vindictive vengeance burning in the alien’s eyes. If Hal’s body is destroyed, Parallax is completely freed, and that was Sinestro’s end goal. Unleashing the literal personification of fear onto the universe.

            “You can’t win,” Sinestro taunts, sending blows to all of them at once, seeming completely at ease even though he’s being attacked by almost half the Justice League. “You will lose, Parallax will be freed, and fear will be used to bring the universe to order.”

            “We’re going to stop you,” Guy snarled, wielding his ring as expertly as he had prior to the Corps’ destruction. “We’ve beaten you before, and we’re going to beat you black and blue again.” 

            “You can try,” Sinestro says, smirking mockingly. “But I’ve already won.”

            _He’s back. It’s coming. It’s back. He’s coming._

“No, you haven’t!” Kyle snarls, throwing a stronger blow at Sinestro. “We won’t let you!”

**********

            _Finally it is time. He emerges from his cocoon, now more than he was before, stronger than he was before. He had had enough time to heal, finally known what he had been missing. Now all his parts are back together again, and he can go back to being with them. No longer sleep and dream, now he can be awake and live._

_***********_

“No, you’ve all lost,” Hal says, letting his voice echo through space and making everyone freeze. “I’m the only one who’s won here.” Well, and Bruce and the kids back on Earth.

            Hal sees the dawning horror in everyone’s eyes, and knows it’s for different reasons, but caused by the same sight. His hair is still brown, with grey trailing from his temples to the back of his head. His green armor is the same he’d went to sleep in, but he’d banished the cape. And now they can see the yellow of his eyes. 

            “Sinestro, you attempted to murder me, turn me into a monster because you hated being rejected by me. You hated that I wouldn’t allow you to control the universe or me,” Hal says, still floating with the Sun he’d relit burning behind him. His eyes catch Kyle’s emerald, and he can sense what’s still hiding wounded behind them. “And you were hoping that the entire time the monster had been in control, that I’d been blameless for my actions. A martyr blamed as a monster.”

            The smile on his face is an unpleasant thing and Parallax knows it.

            “Sur~prise. I’m Hal Jordan, I’m Parallax, and I’m no one’s monster or martyr.”

************ 

            Bruce takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He stares sightlessly over the Manor grounds and tries to control his fears. Fears that Jason’s report from a week ago had accidentally triggered. That the Hal Jordan, the Parallax that he’d loved, had been nothing more than a lie, the flirtation and then relationship just a convenient cover. His hands clutch the balcony railing and he bows his head, closing his eyes. The night air is cold, but he doesn’t feel like putting on a shirt.

            “Please,” he breathes, not even know what he’s begging for. _“Please.”_

            Bruce stiffens as he feels arms wrap around him, and smells sunlight and the ocean. A firm body presses against his body, a warm pair of lips kiss the crux of his neck and shoulder. He turns his head slightly and meets familiar mischievous yellow eyes. Sees a man he’d thought would be lost for him forever and knows the truth.

            “Hey Bruce. I missed you.”


	6. A New Dawn

            “There is a fucking cat on my face,” are the first words Bruce wakes up to from Hal.

            “Your own damn fault, you gave Chesed to Damian,” Bruce says, raising his head up from Hal’s chest just enough to see which of the cats it is. “She’s just trying to show her affection via smothering. She does that.” 

            “I remember,” Hal says dryly, carefully moving the cat. “Because apparently kindness really does kill.”

            “That pun is still awful,” Bruce sighs, leaning up.

            “That pun is fucking amazing,” Hal snorts.

            Both fall silent and Bruce brushes his hand against Hal’s cheek. Hal gives him a lazy smile, the same sort of smile Bruce had gotten so used to in the past. The type of smile he’s spent two years missing. Hal looks almost exactly the same he did then… 

            “Hey,” Hal murmurs, cupping the back of Bruce’s head and drawing him out of his thoughts. “I’m here now, okay? You’re not going to lose me again.”

            “I know,” Bruce lies. “But…” _I thought I had lost. I spent two years mourning you._

            “I’m here, I’m not going to go anywhere, not even if the cat attempts to murder me,” Hal says, kissing Bruce. “I love you, and I’m never going to leave you again.”

            “I love you too,” Bruce says, deepening their kiss. 

_Please never leave me again._


End file.
